ScotRail to spend £100,000 on 'secret shoppers' [Herald]

SCOTRAIL is to spend £100,000 on undercover mystery shoppers to ride its trains amid growing criticism of the services being provided by the Dutch operator of the franchise.
A London-based firm, BDRC Continental, has been awarded the lucrative contract to carry out the audits and will see up to 220 journeys taken by people tasked with discretely monitoring services every month.
The secret shoppers, who are paid a small incentive in addition to train fares, will visit stations and interact with staff before going on their journeys, even riding on replacement buses when necessary. They will then report back on their experience in a bid to help bosses understand its service from a customers perspective.